December 31, 2005
Another Goodbye, 12:15 AM, January 1, 2006
my step-dad, dick jackson, with our bassett hound, henry, christmas 2004
My step-dad passed away earlier today. he was a very kind and gentle soul and i will miss him very much. please pray for our family. his funeral will be this wednesday, january 4, 2006, back in chattanooga. we have been back in atlanta since december 26th, finishing up asher's last 2 weeks of physical therapy before we go home for good. i have had a terrible illness for the past few days that i can't seem to shake. pray that we can make the necessary arrangements so that i can be there for the funeral. also, please pray that the rest of my family doesn't come down with with i have.
praying for the peace of jerusalem,
andy mendonsa
| By Andy Mendonsa | 11:54 PM | Comments (17) | TrackBack (0)
December 10, 2005
Your love, O' Lord Reaches to the Heavens..., 5:55 PM, December 15, 2005
Hadrienne Kathleen Mendonsa
December 30, 1995-November 19, 2005
Psalm 36:5-10 (NIV)
“5) Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies.
6) Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the great deep. O LORD, you preserve both man and beast. 7) How priceless is your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings. 8) They feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights. 9) For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light. 10) Continue your love to those who know you, your righteousness to the upright in heart.”
i could not write an update before now, because i could not bear to write something in place of the pictures i posted of hadrienne soon after she was taken from us. to write anything any sooner than now seemed, felt like, i would be pushing past her, and all that she means to us, aside. it would even feel that way now if i hadn't found a way to keep her memory current with future updates on asher, gloria and myself. that is why, for the time being i will keep a picture of her at the beginning of each update, and why i have had a link created to a "memorial" or "memory" page for her. if there is something anyone would like to post, such as pictures, comments or stories about Hadrienne please send them to my personal email address (amend28209@aol.com) and i will try and post them. if you do send something please put in the subject line "remembering hadrienne."
we came back to atlanta on november 28th so that asher could begin out patient rehab back at the shepherd spinal center. the day that hadrienne was involved in the accident that took her young life, november 18th, was also the day that asher graduated from his brain injury rehab program at "pathways" (part of shepherd's out patient program). asher did really well while he was at there. here he is with all his therapist on his last day there.
after asher finished pathways, the plan was that he would begin out-patient spinal rehab back at shepherd the following monday (november 21). hadrienne had been in chattanooga for a week and she was planning to come back to atlanta with friends on sunday in order to stay with us through christmas. our lives, which were turned upside down on may 23rd when we received the call that asher had been injured, were turned completely inside out when i received the call that hadrienne had been involved in an automoble accident and was being rushed to the hospital by ambulance.
to this day i don't completely know how the police officer that called us that night found our atlanta apartment phone number to call. when i answered the phone there was a lot of interference on the line and i could barely make out what she was saying. finally, heard her ask if i had a daughter named kathleen (hadrienne's middle name). since hadrienne is never called by that name it took a moment to process whether this person had the right number. when i finally said yes, she told me she had been involved in an automobile accident and was on her way to the emergency room by ambulance. when i asked how she was she said she couldn't tell me any more than that and to call the emergency room.
before i hung up my whole body went numbed and it took all i had to stay calm so i could try and figure out what to do. asher and gloria were asleep and i didn't want to wake gloria until i knew something about hadrienne's condition. i must have called the emergency room 4 or 5 times before i finally got a person and then when i did they wouldn't tell me anything. they told me i would just have to come to the hospital to find out about hadrienne even when i told them that i was in atlanta and it would take me 2 hours to get there.
by this point it was all i could do to keep myself together in order to try and think of someone that i could call who would be able to go to the hospital for us and find out how hadrienne's condition while i tried to get there as fast as i could. our dear friends pat and catherine keegan once again came to the rescue. pat is a pediatric doctor at childrens hospital located at erlanger and the night asher was injured i had also called him to see if he could find out what asher's condition was since they would not let us back to see him for several hours.
by this time i had woken gloria up to let her know what was going on and that i was going to have to leave immediately and drive to chattanooga. knowing how long it would take to wake asher up and get him ready to travel i knew that taking he and gloria with me was not an option. yet, leaving gloria behind with no one there to be with her, was as heartbreaking for me as what i was already fearing that hadrienne's condition might be. my heart was being ripped in two between chattanooga and atlanta.
as soon as i got on the road i called another of our dear friends, dave and denise, explained the situation, and asked them if they could drive to atlanta to be with gloria and asher. even though it was 1 a.m. they didn't hesitate to leave imediately. about half way inbetween we met and exchanged vehicles so that they would have our handicapped van to take back with them and bring gloria and asher up later in the morning.
l found out a little later on from pat that hadrienne's condition was critical due to the brain injuries she had suffered. traffic was terrible on I 75 and at one point, for several miles, traffic inched along due to road construction. what is normally an hour and 45 minute drive took me 2 and a half hours. crying and praying all of the way there it was the worst night of my life. i couldn't get to hadrienne and i couldn't be with gloria and asher.
finally, around 3:30 i made it to the hospital and found pat and catherine keegan with hadrienne in the icu. as soon as i saw her my heart was shattered into a million pieces. it was all i could do to keep the rest of me from falling completely apart. i remember finding her hand and holding it as i began to let her know that i was there, pray for her and sing jesus loves me to her; the song that i always sang to her every night when i rocked her to sleep before putting her to bed. my favorite time of the day.
as i prayed for her, told her she would be alright and sang, i saw the numbers on the moniter that were recording her inner cranial pressure drop down not to a safe level, but lower than they had been when i first got there (we unfortunately had learned far too much about brain injury since the time of asher's injuries). the numbers were still high enough that i knew, though, that if the pressure continued at that level she wouldn't make it. over the course of the rest of the morning and into the next day, though, the pressure on her brain never dropped that low again.
at some point, either while driving, or after i got to the hospital, i called gloria and told her that she and asher needed to come as soon as they could get ready and leave. it took a while to get asher ready and to get everything packed in the van that he would need for the trip. they got to the hospital around 7 or 8 that morning.
they came straight to where hadrienne and i were in the icu. we pushed asher beside her bed and put his hand onto hers and as he tried to talk to her he just broke down and cried. he was convinced, though, not thinking that her injuries were anywhere near as bad as his had been, that she would be ok.
at that time i was still hopeful that a miracle would occur and hadrienne would be ok, but i knew that her condition was about as bad as it could possibly be. by the afternoon they were arranging for an arterialgram to be done on hadrienne's brain in order to determine if blood was reaching it. some things had changed for the worse for her during the day. her inner cranial pressure (ICP) had steadily risen up in the 90's. to give you an idea of what tht means, normal pressure is around 12. when asher was first in icu his ICP was in the low to mid 20's. when i first got to hadrienne's room her's was in the mid to high 50's. the lowest it ever dropped while i was there was around 39.
the other indication that things had become worse was that earlier in the day she had some gagging reflex, by the afternoon that was not present at all. what happens when there is swelling on the brain from head trauma is that there is no room in our skulls for the brain to expand. the only place for the swelling to go is through the hole at the back of the cranium where the brainstem attaches to the brain. if the swelling can't be brought under control then the flow of blood trying to reach the brain through the brainstem gets cut off.
by late afternoon, even though we didn't say it to each other, we knew that she was gone. i know that we were both hoping, beyond hope, that the miracle would occur and that when they did the arterialgram later that evening we would receive good news. God, in His infinite wisdom, grace, mercy, love and compassion had other plans.
we were both so grateful to the Lord for the nurses who came into the conference room with us after the doctor broke the news tried to comfort us through both their very presence as well as their prayers. we were also both so grateful to the lord for the wonderful angel that was by our side, especially gloria's throughout the day that day, all night that night and throughout the next day. this angel was susan smission. she did for us all that hadrienne had done for us in those first few days when asher was injured. hadrienne had also continued to be there for us throughout all of asher's stay in the hospital both in chattanooga and atlanta and into his out patient therapy. at the young age of 19, when the dreams and visions of one's life are beginning the process for forming and being shaped into reality, and all of the enthusiam and energy that goes into that process, hadrienne, instead, put all of this on hold, and allowed all of that enthusiam and energy to be devoted to helping her parents and her brother.
after we were told the unbearable news about hadrienne, she was still on life support. we knew that she would have to be taken off, but we needed more time with her before we could do that. asher had been taken to the hotel room where we would be staying for the next week (our house was and is still not liveable. as of last thursday, December 8, there was a 5 week projected completion date for it, though) and he needed for one of us to come and take care of him and also to break the news to him about his sister who he loved more than anything in the world.
gloria stayed with hadrienne throughout the night, and i am so grateful to susan smission for staying there with her. she was in no condition to stay by herself. lurone jennings, my very dear friend and prayer partner for more years now than i can remember, drove me over to the hotel to break the news to asher. asher, who had convinced himself, and was trying very hard to convince those who were staying with him, that hadrienne was going to be alright, was completely broken by the news. he cried and cried and said that he should have been the one that died, he would have given his life for hers and that all the strength and determination that he was able to have in his recovery process had been coming from her. he didn't know how he could possibly go any further now without her.
after a little while i had to leave his side for a few minutes, but lurone was there with him. i am so thankful to the lord for the way that he and lurone were able to share with each other while i was gone. i do not think there could have been a better person to be with asher at that exact time.
the next day i left asher in the great care of dave and denise, who had also been there with him all evening as well as our very dear friend jeff thompson. judy pepper was also there that morning and every morning while we were in chattanooga to help us with everything that asher needs in the mornings. i do not know what we would have done without that help during that time without her, as well as all of those who surrounded us with their love through very practical and necessary ways.
i have no memory of the trip back to the hospital that morning. i just remember finding gloria and susan smission in the room with hadrienne. the only people that we could bring ourselves to let come in during the day to say goodbye were both of hadrienne's grandparents. the rest of the time we needed all to ourselves. we knew she was gone and that what was left behind was only an outward representation of who hadrienne had been. hadrienne was, physically, a very cute and attractive young lady, but her real beauty was in who she was, and that was now gone beyond our reach.
none-the-less, gloria and i are so thankful that we had that time with what physically remained behind of her. it would have been so much more unbearable for us otherwise. we needed to weep, cry and mourn our loss together with her while we held her hand, touched her cheek and stroked her hair.
finally, the time came for us to say our final goodbyes, shed our last tears in her presence and turn off her life support. after everthing was turned off, gloria and i were left alone with her until it finally became too much and we had to leave, broken, shattered and not knowing how we were going to possibly go on without her.
time for me, as i try and remember the details for what happened over the next few minutes, hours and days are blurry at best. so many seemingly important decisions and arrangements had to be made almost as soon as we left hadrienne's side. decisions and plans that i have always wondered how people who are suffering with such deep sadness and grief can possibly have the presence of mind, courage and strength to endure. now i know. without them having to be made and even participated in by us, and only us, they would not have served as the much needed distractions from the pain that was tearing the very essence of our own being into shreds. they forced us to break with our agony.
some time on tuesday afternoon, while sitting on the bed in our hotel room across from gloria who was sitting on the sofa, i was reading through some of the sympathy cards that had been sent to us. i had just read the last one, a handwritten note from a young man whose family had lived near us when he was growing up. his words touched me so deeply and were such a sweet gift to my soul that i laid all the way down on the bed where i was sitting and closed my eyes to rest, just for a moment.
closing my eyes up until that moment had not brought me either peace or rest. in fact, all i could see in my minds eye were dark clouds that would not break for me in order for me to see the light beyond. there was no exception to this when i first closed my eyes this time either. again, dark and ominous swirling clouds was all that i could see. then suddenly at the top of the sky that i was looking at the clouds broke and a great light appeared with a cross inside of a circle. it vanished as quickly as it appeared, and then, i saw hadrienne. she had the most beautiful smile on her face and her head was partially turned to the right and i could tell that she was walking along in the company of someone else, but i could not see who, everything else was obsured from view except for her face. with the obvious joy that filled her face, though, i could well imagine who was walking by her side. then, i noticed something about her that i hadn't at first, she was wearing a golden crown on her head. in another split second she was gone. the dark clouds had obscured her from my view.
i knew instantly what i had seen was real, though, with no doubts left in my mind what-so-ever. afterwards, i open my eyes, got up from the bed and went over and sat next to gloria on the sofa and shared with her what God had allowed me to see. at that moment i felt so much peace inside of me. it wasn't that gloria and i had ever doubted for a moment where hadrienne had gone, but to actually get to see her there was a gift beyond all gifts.
some hours later in the early evening i came here to the Asher update to see if anyone else had posted a comment and was made speechless by one of the comments that i found. it was written by one of the parents of a childhood friend of hadrienne's who had moved away to virginia when they were in middle school. my vision of hadrienne was the answer to what they wrote to share that they were praying for us:
"We have been praying that our Lord will show you a vision of Hadrienne's happiness with Him in heaven to carry you through the times of overwhelming grief. We will continue to lift you up for comfort, for peace, for rest, and for security in the knowledge that He is there for you - always.
With much love in Him -
Miriam, Jim, Mikaela, Aaron & Micah Larson"
even now, as i look back on seeing this vision and then some time later reading about this prayer for us leaves me filled with an indescribable feeling of awe and wonder for the god of all creation who, in our darkest hours, would love us enough to bring so much light to bear through the answer to this prayer. and even now, as i find myself again and again overflowing with tears laden with the sorrow of losing our precious, precious hadrienne, through these tears, i am always able to see the face of her in that vision, a face filled with unspeakable and everlasting joy.
the next day, the day before Thanksgiving, was hadrienne's funeral. the service was held at lookout mountain presbyterian church, because it was large enough and the sanctuary was a place that hadrienne had always found beautiful and drawn to. how gracious of them to allow us and so many others to gather for both remembering her as well as saying our goodbyes.
for that day we are eternally grateful to the lord for lurone jennings, joe novenson, willie and barbara kitchens, susan smission, dr. dave redd, lauren leutwiler, j.r. caines, justin wilkins, catherine shepherd, denise porter, delores domineck, skye webb, kendra sikkema, judy pepper, will ross, asher mendonsa, scotty maclellan, lookout mountain presbyterian church, thankful episcopal church. the lord made himself known through each of you, and so many others too numerous to name, helping to carry us through to the other side of that day.
the rest of the week was spent visiting with friends and family, shedding many tears, finding good fellowship and experiencing gods continued love through it all. a love, that many find it hard to understand or comprehend when weighed against the tragic circumstances that have assaulted our family since may 23rd.
i would not pretend to understand or say that i have found the answers, either. i am certain that most of the questions have not even occurred to me yet. there is one thing i am certain of, though, and that is god's unbreakable, unshakable and impenetrable love for me and my family. i have known and experienced god's love in a very personal way since the end of 1982 when i was first drawn into a relationship with him, and not because of a desperate situation in my life, but because he drew me to himself through his love. and that same love that drew me to him has been unchanging and unwavering every moment of every day since.
what i have found over the years, though, from so many who claim god's love for themselves based on what the bible tells them of it, when pressed as to whether they really know, themselves, that god loves them, more often than not they must admit that they do not. perhaps, that would explain, in part why god gets the blame for so much that he is really not guilty for. perhaps, that is why, all too often, when presented with the unimagineable circumstances that me and my family have been through these many months we begin to question how and why a truly loving god could allow such things as these to happen. when, if we truly knew that god loves us, how could our response at such times as these, and even worse, not be that if it were not for a truly loving and caring god, that we would have far more to worry about than that which can only destroy our physical nature. far worse would be the destruction of our very eternal souls.
in our american culture that we live in today we seem to live our lives as though we should somehow be exempt from suffering, and are even incensed, or at least confused when it does occur. we don't seem to mind as much when it happens to other people in other cultures, just so long as it doesn't happen to us, or anyone else that we are close to. but when it does, then we seem to have a need to find someone to blame. the greater the suffering the greater the one we find to blame. and god seems to ultimately not only be the prime target for where we place that blame, but we also go so far as to curse him in the process.
what seems the more reasonable to me is that rather than ask how a loving god can allow such atrocities and suffering to happen in this would, we should ask instead why it is that evil does not prevail over us altogether. if there is not a loving god holding it back then what else is there,we should ask, holding it back instead? always in the midst of evil, it is the hand of a loving god that will ultimately turn it back. and the greatest evidence, for this, is god's gift to us all of his own son that he sent in order to break the back of evil on this earth and to defeat the hold of death on our eternal beings, but not to deliver us from all suffering while we wait to enter into a promised life of eternal existence with him. in fact, it is even plainly stated for us, that in this life we are joined with christ in all that he suffered on earth. and who of us as parents, knowing in advance, what kind of death our child might suffer, would bring, or send them into the world anyway. what kind of love does to take to do that?
to blame god in the midst of great suffering is to miss god in the midst of the greatest outpouring of his love that he will offer to us in this life.
on november 28th, with our hearts being dragged along behind us we somehow managed to head back to atlanta for asher to begin the last phase of his out-patient therapy at the shepherd spinal center. how could we leave hadrienne behind so soon after we had placed her in the ground with only the memory of her there to be able to return to in our minds? the answer to that is still impossible for me to answer even now.
we found when we returned to shepherd on tuesday, november 29th, that everyone at shepherd that we had gotten to know while asher was in the hospital there, already knew about hadrienne. one of asher's nurses, betsy, had even come to hadrienne's funeral. she was his nurse in the brain injury unit when he first came to shepherd while still in a coma. coming back to shepherd under these circumstances, the love and concern shown to us by everyone there, not only on that day, but every day since, is just another incredible example for the ways that god continues to sustain us even when we can't possibly imagine having an ounce of strength more to go on.
the interesting thing about faith is that it is not always how our faith sustains us at times of great personal suffering, but how the faith of others plays such a crucial role in the ways that we are sustained and at the same time it is because of our suffering that the faith of others is also increased. quite honestly in the midst of all the suffering we have been through, we have not felt as though we have even had any measurable faith to speak of. most of our days and nights we stand weak kneed at best. any strength of faith that has mistakenly been attributed to any of us, i assure you is coming to us only through the grace and mercy of god on behalf of all of the many prayers, pleas and petitions that are going up for us to him from so many both near and far.
our time in atlanta, and shepherd, is now almost over and it seems nearly impossible to believe. asher's last day is december 30th and we will move back to chattanooga as soon after that as possible. our house will not be ready to move into for at least another 2 weeks after that, so we will probably be staying in a hotel until it is finished.
next week though, we will be coming to chattanooga for a short visit. we have promised asher that he can celebrate his 18th birthday with his friends there on the 22nd. we also plan to stay through christmas and return back to atlanta the day after.
let me end this with a quote from a letter found while i was going through some of hadrienne's things. it was a letter she had written to a former high school teacher, but had never sent it to him. i have since mailed it to him. in this letter she tries to convey her appreciation to him for an act of kindness that she saw him demonstrate to another former student and his family. this is part of what she wrote to him:
"Recently, i have become all too aware of intentions turning into choices. Too often my intentions fall into a choice to ignore rather than to act... I saw your intent, to help another, become an action, and whether it helped or not is ok, you are an example. As Jesus showed us we are to love all, no matter the recognition we get, we are to go the extra mile to show love. In this case it was showing up at a time that was particularly hard. For me it could be giving a friend a ride to the store. No matter the situation it is important to show love. Not just to intend to show love.
-Hadrienne"
Praying for the Church, Christ's bride, to be made pure and undefiled,
Praying for the peace of Jerusalem,
Praying for Jesus to return quickly,
as we continue to mourn the loss of our dear Hadrienne,
andy mendonsa
Color Me Hadrienne, 2005
(self-portrait)
| By Andy Mendonsa | 12:15 AM | Comments (19) | TrackBack (0)
November 21, 2005
Hadrienne Mendonsa December 30, 1985-November 19, 2005
Our last day with hadrienne in atlanta before she left to spend the week in chattanooga. mark stewart and josh shup, on the right, were both in the car with her.
| By Andy Mendonsa | 06:12 PM | Comments (52) | TrackBack (0)
Funeral Arrangements, November 21, 10 AM
May the God of all hope and glory keep you and guide you and so may His love overwhelm you with grace and mercy binging you peace and comfort everlasting.
we will be saying our final goodbyes to hadrienne on wednesday, november 23, at lookout mountain presbyterian church on north bragg avenue on lookout mountain. our family will be there to both receive and give comfort from 11 am to 12 pm. the service will begin at 12 in the sanctuary. we have requested that hadrienne's casket be open in the sanctuary between 11 am and 12 for so many of you that want to say goodbye. she left us so quickly. there will be a graveside service afterwards.
anyone who knew hadrienne knew that she was a very focused and passionate person who always gave all she had to others. from the very moment that we learned of ashers tragic accident she stepped in and held gloria and i up. for all these months we have had to give all of our time and attention to asher. everyone has. which means that she has not been able to get any of that from us. i spoke to her about this one day and told her i realized this and could not imagine how hard it was for her. not once did she ever complain or express any bitterness or jealousy.
since asher has been out of his coma and regained so much of his cognitive abilities he has expressed much anger and disbelief in god. he now tells us since hadrienne is gone his faith and trust in god has been restored. without hadrienne he says that he does not have the strength by himself to go on. it was hadrienne, he said, that had been giving him that strength.
gloria and i have talked about where hadrienne would want donations to be given in her memory. as much as hadrienne loved flowers she would love even more to know that her life could continue on in the helping of others which she did so passionately herself, whether it was family, widows with our ministry, a stranger, it didn't matter, she was willing.
hadrienne never wavered in her desire to be a zoologist and do research work with endangered animals, her great love. every summer since she was 14 she went for a week to wassaw island off the coast of savannah to work with the caretta research project under the savannah science museum. she had such a great love for this work and the the two directors over it mike frick and kris carrol (http://members.aol.com/WassawCRP/index.html) donations can be made out to the
Caretta Research Project
PO Box 9841
Savannah, Ga. 31412-0041.
another great love of hadrienne's was rowing. she was on the chattanooga junior rowing team for all 3 years that she was in high school. it truly transformed her life into the self-confident determined person that she had become before this great tragedy. we know that she would want to make it possible for others to be able to benefit from rowing in the lifelong ways that she did and so we are asking that donations be made to chattanooga junior rowing club scholarship fund:
Chattanooga Rowing - William G. Raoul Boathouse
(423) 622-6846
www.chattrowing.org
Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 11286
Chattanooga, TN 37401
and finally, but certainly not least is Ot U' Mofet "a sign and a wonder" in Israel (http://www.restorersofzion.org/restore_mofet.html). hadrienne had a great love for the woman who started this work in israel, orna greenman. orna is a second generation israeli on her mother's side and her father was a holocaust survivor. orna has been the keynote speaker at our annual international widows prayer gathering and conference for the past 4 years. orna, a single mother herself (she has a wonderful teenage son about asher's age, lior) has a growing ministry outreach to young widowed mothers and their children, most of whom are refugees in israel. hadrienne had such a great love for orna that she was intent on going to israel so that she could spend more time with orna.
you can send donations to Ot U' Mofet through Widows Harvest Ministries. We handle all donations for her in the United States. Please make your donations out out widows harvest ministries and enclose a note specifing that they are for orna, or name her organization. 100% of all donations will go to her.
our mailing address is:
widows harvest ministries
po box 2307
chattanooga, tenn 37409
i would ask you to please be generous in your giving to any of these organizations. they can all use, need and depend on charitable giving. please give so that a difference can be made in her name in the lives of others as well as those creatures of god's creation that she was so passionately concerned for. if she were here she would be making that difference in these places herself, but since the lord has decided otherwise please allow her passion's to continue to be fullfilled in her memory.
lord bless you and keep you all. may the god of all creation's name be praised,
in mourning,
andy mendonsa
| By Andy Mendonsa | 09:55 AM | Comments (25) | TrackBack (0)
November 20, 2005
Our Hearts are Broken, November 20, 7:30 AM
IN ALL THINKGS GIVE THANKS TO OUR HEAVENLY FATHER IN CHRIST JESUS NAME.
as i have broken the news to so many close family and friends, first about hadrienne's critical accident and now about her passing the same words come out from those i tell: "there is nothing else to say."
we loved our daughter so much. we miss her so much and the pain is so great that it is unbearable. there is so much that needs to be done now, and we don't even know where to begin.
we received the news last night after an arteriogram was performed to see if any blood flow was going to hadriennes brain. i already knew, though, there wasn't. we have learned far too much already about brain injury. she is still on life support. gloria spent the night at the hospital last night with her and i stayed in a hotel with asher. he is devastated. he doesn't understand why god has spared him. he cried out to god when i told him last night for why it could't have been him instead and that he would have traded his life for hers, as we all would. but jesus has already done that.
we have cried more than we think is humanly possible and i know we are done. as i left the hospital last night and had to pass by all of hadrienne and asher friends they are all so devastated and hurting beyond measure. please pray for mark and josh who were with hadrienne when the accident occurred. mark is still in the hospital with a broken collar bone and some possible othe injuries. i went to see him yesterday to assure him it was not his fault (he was driving), and that we don't blame him and that we love him. josh was release from the emergency room the same night and sent home with a concussion.
the person driving the care that hit hadrienne is in the same icu unit that hadrienne is in. i would ask you to pray for him and those that were riding in the car with him. i know very few details about the accident, except that i have been told that he appeared to be speeding and lost control of his car when he hit hadrienne, mark and josh.
a conversation i had with hadrienne some months ago after tommy haymes passed away keeps going through my mind. she expressed some half joking and half serious concern to me about wondering whether she might me next. i assured her that she wouldn't. oh dear lord have mercy on us.
i really wanted to post a picture of hadrienne with this but i don't have my computer, it is in atlanta. in fact i don't have any pictures of hadrienne with us at all. we just never dreamed.
i don't know anything yet about funeral arrangements, but as soon as i do i will post them.
thank you all so much for loving us through your prayers.
blessings and thanksgiving,
andy mendonsa
| By Andy Mendonsa | 07:59 AM | Comments (44) | TrackBack (0)
November 19, 2005
Please continue to pray.
I do not know when Andy will get to post. I do not know what to write but urgently plead for your prayers for her family and friends.
| By Leda | 09:58 PM | Comments (12) | TrackBack (0)
